Good Miracle Monday

A quick reminder to remember to set a place at the table for Superman tonight, the classic Miracle Monday tradition, as seen in this story from SUPERMAN #400 [1984] by Elliot S! Maggin and Klaus Janson.

Next year in Metropolis!

And if for some reason you've never read them, pick up Maggin's two Superman novels, LAST SON OF KRYPTON and MIRACLE MONDAY, now available in new editions self-published by Maggin.

(Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster)

George Pérez, R.I.P.

Sad to note the passing of George Pérez at age 67 after an extended illness. 

I think the first time I really noticed his work was in 1980, when I started reading AVENGERS with this issue. Really enjoyed the book for a few months there.

This is around the time that he left Marvel to work for DC, which suited me fine as more of a DC reader. He and Marv Wolfman launched NEW TEEN TITANS within a few months, I think the first time I started reading an on-going book that lasted from the first issue. Because of varying schedules, there were a few months there where he drew the new issues of JLA, AVENGERS and NEW TEEN TITANS. Quickly became one of my favourite books, and was up there for quite a few years. pretty much until newsstand availability of comics dried up locally. A few years later when I started going to direct market stores one of the first things I did was find out what Pérez was up to, which turned out to be WONDER WOMAN, and a return to TITANS just announced. Picked up a lot of back issues of WW to catch up, and really like that run. Enjoyed the too-brief return to TITANS as well.  

Lots of his work and details on his life available on-line.  Here are a few favourites you might not see on other sites:

From the run of "Dial H" where readers designed the various one-shot characters. Pérez did a few of the covers, which must have been an extra special treat to the readers who submitted those characters.

A nice illustration for a benefit book which captures a lot of the best qualities of his work.

A page from that first AVENGERS issue I picked up. Love his version of these characters.

An unusual art combo as Pérez inks over Sergio Aragonés.  He did a few other more short stints as inker over more traditionally compatible artists, including some really nice work over José Luis García-López and Curt Swan.

This was the first of his run of WONDER WOMAN I picked up, and maybe still my favourite cover of many great ones on that run.

From a goofy little short written by Joe Cavalieri from Pacific's VANGUARD ILLUSTRATED #6 [1984].

A nice science fiction frontispiece from MARVEL PREVIEW #20 [1980] for a reprint of an early story he did from 1975, "War Toy", with Tony Isabella and Rico Rival.

Neal Adams, R.I.P.

Just wanted to briefly note the passing of comic book artist Neal Adams recently at age 80. By the time I was reading comics in the 1970s he had mostly left the field for more lucrative advertising work, mostly being seen on an occasional cover or reprint, and of course in his influence. But one of his last major works in the decade was one that I picked up and still have, the "Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali" tabloid he co-wrote and penciled. A real audacious absurdity, a perfect epic for an eight year old. Over the next few years I would frequently see his work in various reprints, mostly the DC digests of the era, where his work would frequently be a highlight. He'd even get a rare named plug on the cover with Dennis O'Neil for one issue I read many times.

There were a number of early exposures to Adams that I read over and over for a few years, so by the time I got back into buying comics from direct market stores in the late 1980s among the first things I started to get were a few of the high quality reprints of his 1967 to 1973 heyday, including his Green Lantern / Green Arrow, Batman and Deadman stories.

Lots of images of his work all over the net, here are a handful of neat ones I pulled out, including a cover of Dave Sim's Cerebus, a few covers to 1980s reprints of his early 1970s work, a 1990s collaboration with Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier and a 1960s story with Archie Goodwin from Warren.